Modern consumer and specialty electronic devices utilize a range of different acoustically coupled audio components, including microphones, pickups, speakers, and emitters. Depending on application, acoustic devices such as these can be configured to provide a wide variety of different electronics functionality, including voice communications, voice control, audio recording, motion sensing, and media playback and development.
In general, acoustically coupled audio devices must be designed to withstand a range of input and sensitivity levels. This can be particularly relevent in handheld, mobile, and other portable electronics applications, which may be subject to a range of uncontrolled environmental effects including dropping, impact and shock.
To address these concerns, a variety of different acoustic protection technologies are available, including acoustic mesh, foam, grille and acoustic gasket-type components. In addition to providing acoustic shock protection, such devices can also be configured to address the problems of water intrusion, contamination, and other environmental effects.
At the same time, acoustic mesh-based components and similar foam, grille, and gasket technologies also introduce materials between the acoustic device and the acoustic field. These materials may impact sound quality, requiring design tradeoffs between the required level of acoustic protection and desired acoustic performance. These tradeoffs, moreover, are typically manifested differently in different audio frequency ranges, and across the relevant subsonic and ultrasonic bands. As a result, there is a continuous need for improved acoustic protection techniques for acoustically coupled audio devices, including, but not limited to, microphones, speakers, pickups, emitters and other acoustic components on mobile, portable and handheld computing devices, and in other consumer and specialty electronics applications.